Metamorphoses
by M. Mellow
Summary: Sometimes it's inevitable that we morph into ugly beasts and monsters, but changes are necessary if we want to strive for the better future. /OC-centric/
1. Acquaintances

**A/N:** This is my first Kuroko No Basuke Fic. This is a randomly spewed fic…meaning I'm writing this as I go… not as I planned.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters of KnB except for my own OC.

* * *

**Metamorphoses**

_Each friend represents a world in us, a world not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born_

_Anais Nin_

* * *

CHAPTER 1: ACQUAINTANCE

* * *

The first time she met Akashi Seijuro was at the party her parents threw for their friends. At that time, she did not understand what the party was for, but she vaguely remembered her uncle saying something about being "pompous." The word felt weird on her tongue, but she could not help but to laugh at the sound of the word. She decided that today her new favourite word will be "pompous."

She wandered around between the forest of grown-up's legs. She had to tilt her head way back to see the colourful food displayed on the table. She felt her stomach rumbled, and she felt her mouth salivating more so than usual.

"Haruna – chan!" A familiar feminine voice perked up Haruna's ear. She looked around her surrounding trying to find the source of her favourite voice.

"Mama!" Haruna ran up to her mother's embrace, and she gave a short hug back.

"Geez, I told you not to wander around Haruna. Mama was worried." She gave Haruna a playful scorn; Haruna couldn't help but to giggle at her mother's attempt. "Come on now, I want you to meet somebody."

She held her mother's sweet hand, and she approached a very stern looking man. She gulped back inwardly. "Now Haruna, say 'Hello' to Akashi – san." Her father looked at Haruna with a gentle smile. _How could they be so different! _Haruna thought it was one of the greatest mysteries that she will solve later on in her life.

"Good evening Akashi – tan" Haruna tried to recite every word her mother tried to teach her this morning. There was a pause of silence before the woman next to the aforementioned 'Akashi-san' started to lightly giggle. Haruna looked up curiously to the beautiful woman with red hair. The woman crouched down to Haruna's eye level and patted her head lovingly.

"What a cute daughter you have there, Kyoko – san" Haruna's face was lightly coloured pink by the sudden compliment.

Her mother sighed while shaking her head, "I tried to teach her this morning Narumi – san, but someone," she gave a sideway glance to the culprit, Haruna's father, "gave her the habit of calling everyone with a '–tan' after it."

Her father laughed sheepishly and patted Haruna's head, "You did good Haruna." Despite being confused by receiving all these random compliments, Haruna couldn't help but to smile brightly because her parents and the woman seemed to be laughing and having a good time. Just then a small boy with the same hair color as the woman caught her eyes. He was hiding shyly behind the woman's legs.

Curious of who he was, she slowly approached closer to him. He quickly hid behind the safety of the woman's figure. "Hello" Haruna said quietly, hoping her voice wouldn't scare the meek looking boy.

"Seijirou-kun, it's rude to not introduce yourself when someone is greeting you." The man spoke for the first time she met him.

"Akashi – san, don't be too hard on him. He's just a bit shy." The woman softly defended the poor boy. She gave an encouraging pat to the small boy and said, "Go on Seijirou-kun, say hello to Haruna-chan!"

Seijirou at first looked at her a bit weary and just as he was about to speak, Haruna couldn't help but to interrupt after noticing his heterochromatic eyes. "You have weird eyes." Her mother gently knocked her at the back of her head. "Owie!" she yelped, rubbing her now sore head.

"Ha-ru-na – chan. Apologize to Seijirou! That's not a nice thing to say!" Her mother scolded, and Haruna looked back at the boy. The boy looked like he was about to burst into tears while clutching his mother's dress.

"Why do I have to apologize?" Haruna said hotly, "his eyes are weird, but I think they are really pretty. They're like the sunset we saw back at the beach, Mama!" She smiled at her defense.

Seijirou's mother laughed once more, "Your child is really cute Kyoko- san!" She looked down back at Haruna, "I like his eyes too Haruna-chan!"

Haruna looked back at the boy, and she giggled happily as the tip of his ears almost matched the color of his red hair.

The first day she met Akashi Seijirou was when they were both 6 years old. She didn't think she would see him ever again after that night, but she was happy that she was proved wrong.

* * *

**Ding Dong**

"I'll get it mama!" The rambunctious girl flew down the stairs.

"Haruna, don't run down the stairs!" her mother useless effort to contain her hyper-energetic eight year old girl was left unheard by the girl.

Haruna ran to the door and opened the door quickly. This action both surprised the boy and the woman. "Hello Narumi-ta –er I mean 'san'"

The woman named Narumi smiled while patting Haruna's head. "Narumi-tan is just fine, Haruna-chan!"

"Geez Narumi – san, don't encourage her!" Her mother finally caught up to the energetic girl and gave her a firm pat on her head. "How many times have I told you not to run downstairs, you don't want that cast again do you?"

"The cast was so cool though! I had a lot of pictures drawn on it!" Haruna retorted back happily, much to her mother's dismay. Haruna looked back at the red haired boy and gave him the widest smile he has ever seen. "Hi Sei-tan!"

"Hello, Haruna-san." Seijirou started before he saw the pout on her face. "I mean, Haruna – chan." That greeted him with another winning smile.

"Go on and play you kids, Mama is going to be right outside at the patio, alright Seijirou - kun?" She gave a loving pat on Seijirou's head and he happily smiled back.

"You better behave missy, I don't want another incident with the soap bubbles again." Haruna couldn't believe that her mother was different from Seijirou's mother. She was slightly jealous of Seijirou for having such a kind and easy going mother. But she reasoned that she was slightly a bit more naughty compared to the calm and polite Seijirou.

Ah yes, the soap bubble incident. Haruna still remembered it fondly to this day. It was the first time Seijirou and his mother came over to her house. It was a bit weird to see her classmate in her house at first, but she was happy none-the-less. She didn't have many friends, or rather, any friends who ever came to her house before. Excited to have a new friend over, she quickly dragged the poor boy to see her room and her toys.

It was then when Seijirou spotted her 1L bottle of "Super Bubble Blast Volcano" that her brain started to churn all sorts of bubble events they could have. She exclaimed that they could have a bubble marathon.

"_I- I don't think that's a good idea, Haruna-san" Seijirou said quietly._

"_Nonesense! It's a great idea! And stop calling me Haruna-san, it's making me feel old!"_

"_But father said that I should be polite to everyone else."_

"_Sei-tan! Have your father ever smiled before even?"Seijirou pondered_ _for a moment before shaking his head as a 'no.'_

"_See! And do you know why he doesn't smile?" Again, Seijirou shook his head 'no.' Haruna smiled haughtily before she revealed her answer, "it's because all of his friends are calling him 'Akashi-san'"_

_Seijirou stared at her with a blank expression, "I don't think…that's quite right." _

"_Have I ever been wrong before, Sei-tan?"_

"_Yes, numerous of times."_

_Haruna flinched at the sure fire comment, "Th-that was just a slight miscalculation! An-anyway, are you my friend or not?"_

_There was an eerie silence between the two of them, Haruna sweated nervously. Could it be that this friendship has always been one sided? She always ate lunch with Seijirou during school, but that's about it. This is the first time he came over to her house, so maybe she jumped the gun too quickly._

"_I think father would call this relationship as an acquaintance."_

"_An…aq…akaintence?"She felt her tongue tied from this foreign word._

"_More than strangers, less than friends." Seijirou gave a simple definition._

"_Wah! I don't want that Sei-tan! I wanna be friends with you, I'll show you that I'm a great friend by showing you how fun a bubble marathon is!"_

_And so began her little experiment, much to Seijuro's dismay, of dumping her whole 1L bottle of the "Super Bubble Blast Volcano" in the laundry machine with the lid open. Less to say, the whole laundry room was flooded with bubbles and Seijirou ate more soap bubbles than he would like to admit. He was scared because he couldn't see Haruna, but a warm hand encircled his wrist and guided him to the exit. _

_ Once he got out, he saw Haruna make a soap beard and a soap hair. "Look Sei-tan, I'm Santa Clause! Ho! Ho! Ho!" She rubbed her belly while laughing merrily. _

_He looked back at the room now flooded with bubbles and started to cry. She knew that he hated getting into trouble, especially if it meant the possibility for being scolded by his mother._

_ Haruna immediately felt guilty so she was trying to comfort him as best she could. She apologized numerous times, yet Seijirou would have none of it. _

_ "Father said that if I choose my friends wrongly, I'll be a shame to my entire family!" One look back at Haruna; he started to sob harder._

_ "H-hey! I'm not a bad girl!" Suddenly, she could feel her tears prickling the side of her eyes. All she wanted was for him to laugh and have a good time, why is it so hard to get someone to understand her good intentions?_

_Moments later, Seijirou's mother quickly ran over to him and comforted him. Haruna's mother also came rushing towards her and started to comfort her crying self as well. _

_Seijirou hugged his mother tightly and said that he never wanted to come over ever again. _

_He didn't come over for 3 weeks._

* * *

Haruna remembering the bitter part of her memory and gave a great puff of resistance, "Mama! I'm not a seven-years-old anymore! I'm eight! I'm more ma…matern….mat…" she struggled a bit with the word, she just learned this word from her uncle. Her uncle said something about adults trying to act the 'm' word, but regardless they still have a pea sized brain.

"Mature." Seijirou helped her.

"Right, mature!" She smiled sheepishly.

Her mother looked at her with a dead panned expression before she sighed and said, "Yes, yes, you're a grown lady, so please act like one."

"Of course!" Haruna chirped happily, but everyone in the room knew that she will definitely stir up some trouble again.

Once Seijirou and Haruna got into their room, they did the usual. Haruna did her own thing, and Seijirou did his. That was the agreement Seijirou made with Haruna if he were to continue coming over to her house.

Haruna laid on her bed while Seijirou unpacked his bag and pulled out a plain blue book. "What'cha reading?" Haruna peered over his shoulder and gaped at how little pictures she saw.

"Alice in the Wonderland. We have to finish reading this by next week."

"Psh, but its next week! Besides I watched the movie, so I can write the report no problem!"

"You should at least worry a bit about your academic success sometimes soon Haruna…chan."

"Ah! What's with the pause every time you add '-chan?' Also stop using long words Sei-tan, you sound old!"

"Nothing, I'm just not well acquainted with the term yet. And I thought you wanted to be more mature."

Haruna pouted before she curled up in a ball; she didn't know how to retaliate after his statement. "Anyways, I'm bored Sei-taaaan~" she whined hoping to switch to a different topic. But instead, he completely ignored her! She remembered how after their first bad meeting, he wouldn't talk or look at her for the next following month. She grinned; she also remembered calling him a mama's boy and a crybaby. Boy, did that bring a fist fight into their argument.

She stared at his back, most of the time he was shy, but when he's depended upon, he can be a natural leader. After a year later, Seijirou changed a lot. He seemed to feel more like an adult than her. The only indication that he was still a child like her was when he would allow himself to be spoiled by his mother's attention. Only Haruna was able to see the more timid side of Seijirou, at school he was quiet and sometimes she felt he was untouchable.

The sound of the page flipping, and the clock ticking was all she could bear after the first 30 minutes. She was about to speak another complaint before Seijirou inquired on one of her medals.

"Did you get first place again in the Kendo tournament?"

Haruna jumped off her bed and smiled cheekily. She liked it when Seijirou noticed her accomplishment. "Yup! I got first place in the junior tournament for Kendo, Tae – kwon – do and kickboxing!"

"Well, I guess when you do fail at life I'll help you sustain yourself financially by hiring you as my body guard." Seijirou commented dryly as he looked at every gold plaque and medal on her 'wall of fame' or so she would call it.

Completely missing the subtle hint of his insult and basically 90% of his sentence, Haruna turned at him with another wide smile. "I'll beat up anyone who's mean to Sei-tan!" She pumped up her fists into the air.

"You know that I hate needless violence, Haruna…chan." Again, he paused before adding the suffix.

She pondered on the term 'needless,' before she snapped her finger, "it's not needless violence because I was _protecting_ Sei-tan! I wouldn't randomly hurt people y'know."

Seijirou just nonchalantly stared before he went back to reading his book. Haruna knew she was going to lose Seijirou to his book if she doesn't take this opportunity to start a conversation.

Her life came down to battling for his attention against a book.

"Hey, Sei-tan! I also joined the rhythmic gymnastics team for juniors!"

"Hm, I see." Seijirou hummed as he flipped the next page through his book.

"It's 'cause mama said I need more girly sports!"

"Hm…"

"Can you believe that? Hah, I don't need a girly sport! A sport is a sport, regardless of whether you're a girl or a boy!"

"…" Seijirou responded by turning his head slightly to read the next page of his book.

"I'm also going to be a stunts person when I grow up. You know like Jackie Chan!"

"…" He still didn't service her with a respond as his eyes slightly lowered to read the next line.

"I also really like Kool-aid." Haruna waited for any of his reaction, but receiving none she pouted and plopped down next to Seijirou.

Why was it so hard to connect her feelings with Seijirou she wondered? She always felt this impassable wall between them. She never felt this isolated when she was talking to her other classmates. Though, they do seem to try to avoid her ever since she beat up a bully who took Seijirou's pencil.

She always spouted that she wanted to have a best friend, to be best friends with Seijirou more rather, but what exactly was a friend? She looked down at one of his hand, resting on his lap as he was reading his book silently. She grabbed his hand, it was soft and warm. She wondered if somehow her feelings could be transferred from holding his hands.

The sudden action by Haruna definitely got a reaction out of him. He closed his book and stared at their intertwined hands. "What are you doing Haruna?" He completely forgot about the suffix.

Haruna also stared incredulously at their intertwined hands. "Sei-tan! Look, our hands are perfect for each other!" She always held her hands with either her parents or her nanny, but their hands were much too big for her. It was weird holding hands with someone with the same sized hands.

"That's because we're both the same age. Of course we have similar sized hands." He was about to pull away, but Haruna gripped his hand tightly.

"I like holding hands with Sei-tan! It feels a bit weird, and I can't really express this well, but I feel like I could never get lost!" Haruna spouted, she probably sounded nonsensical at this point.

"You're really weird, Haruna." Seijirou replied bluntly.

"I am, aren't I?" She smiled brightly; it seems she always smiled her brightest whenever Seijirou pointed something about her. Whether it would be about her strengths or weaknesses, she always had a goofy smile on her face.

"Hey, Sei-tan?"

"Yes?"

"I'm glad I'm your acquaintance. It's much better than being strangers!" She chuckled lightly.

"It's not by choice." He mumbled under his breath, after all he was forced to be acquainted with her since their parents (especially his mother) was very close.

Haruna knew that she can't force her feelings onto someone, otherwise like Seijirou, she will just repel them away. She was still a bit awkward with finding the right equilibrium in maintaining the appropriate distance amongst friends. But still, she was happy to even just see Seijirou today. "Thank you for coming over today." Haruna's hand slowly loosened around his. She hadn't seen Seijirou for months at a time, and she feels that every time he came over he would change bit by bit. She felt more distant from him.

"What are you talking about? I had to come over because my mother told me to." Seijirou glanced the other way, not wanting to maintain eye contact with Haruna.

"Still, thank you." Her voice went softer, and she looked down at her feet. Ever since the bullying incident, someone started a rumour that her family was actually part of a bike gang. Everyone started to avoid her, even after a year later! She ended up eating lunch alone, and she hated being alone more than anything in the world. That was when one day, Seijirou came up to her seat wordlessly; he sat down and started to eat lunch with her.

Without any explanation why, they continued to eat lunch with each other; she decided that moment she will try her best to be his friend. A friend he could be proud of. Of course the plan was still in progress; even after one year has passed she will still try to continue to close the gap that was inevitably growing larger.

They sat together, with their hands loosely intertwined in peaceful quietness. Something Seijirou didn't realize could exist with Haruna. Before long, he felt a sudden weight on his left shoulder. It was Haruna dozing away.

He never did let go of her hand until he had to leave.

He was sure that acquaintances can hold hands too.


	2. Normal

**A/N:** Ughhhhh, writing is hard. But it's so fun. I'm at a lost. Also, I know chapter 1 was a bit rushed. I'll slow down the pace from this chapter onwards. – also sorry for the long chapter.

**Reviewer(s): ****mmrdike:** Thank you for your lovely comment! Totally made my day! Haha XD **Kintoki Kun: **Yah, I made Seijuro a crybaby….because I think he's such a sweet and adorable kid…in my mind. **LeoInuyuka: **I'm happy you can connect with Haruna-chan!~

**Disclaimer:** I do not own KnB or any of its character, only the OCs belongs to me!

_Terms:_

_(1) Shogi = Essentially known as a Japanese version of a chess game._

* * *

**Metamorphoses**

"_Be what you would seem to be- or, if you'd like it put more simply- Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise."  
― __Lewis Carroll__, __Alice in Wonderland_

* * *

CHAPTER 2: NORMAL

* * *

"Mama, Papa, do you guys have to go?" Haruna laid on the floor in front of their way, hoping to stop them from leaving her alone. But they easily walked over her as they continue to pack up their suit cases.

"I know you don't like to be alone sweetie, but I promise it's only for three days." Her mother patted her head; she could smell the sweet fragrance of lilies from her.

"Besides, you can hang out with your friends; I'll even allow a sleepover while we're gone." Her father continued; he too walked over her to reach his Rolex watch.

Haruna pouted silently, _if she had a friend that is_. "But Mamaaaa, Papaaa, take me with you!" If all else failed, usually whining helped to get what she wanted. But this time, and many other times (now that she thought about it), it proved to be an utter complete failure. Oh why were her parents so busy? She would actually give up all of her toys if it meant she could spend more time with her parents. If it wasn't the business trips, it was the late night meetings; if it wasn't the late night meetings, it would be some sort of grandiose party.

"You're a grown lady now Haruna, you shouldn't whine like that." Her mother seemed to slowly get tired of her antics.

"But I'm only eight! If that's a lady then you must be a suuuper old lady." She scorned as she ran back to her room before she received the full throttle of her mother's rage.

"Why yo-" Her mother started before she was held back by her husband.

"She's just going through the rebellious phase, I'm sure if we just ignore it, it will go away."

"Sometimes, that child can be such a handful dear."

"I know."

Haruna was sitting around the corner. She was hoping her mother would chase her and scold her or do anything really. Her mother always seems to scold her playfully in front of others and her father would give her loving compliments as well, but behind closed doors she felt her family life was a bit disjointed.

Even after roughhousing with Seijuro's bully she expected an earful of complaints, but instead her parents never brought it up.

_Maybe this was normal_, Haruna thought.

So she believed it was.

* * *

Today was day one. Haruna's parents probably boarded the plane ready to leave wherever they needed to go.

She was sitting in class, pouting, while following the readings of Alice in the Wonderland. Seijuro's voice was levelled and monotonous; his voice was starting to lull her to sleep.

… "_But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.  
"Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."  
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.  
"You must be," said the Cat, or you wouldn't have come here." _

"Thank you Seijuro-kun." The teacher said, she looked at Haruna looking out the window.

"Haruna-chan, would you please tell me what you think this passage means?"

Haruna snapped angrily back at the teacher, "I don't feel like it."

She could hear whispers amongst her own peer; she hated how loudly they were whispering about her. She could feel Seijuro staring at her, and she just knew he wasn't happy about her attitude. She made a promise to herself a year ago that she will be a friend that he could be proud of. But look at her now, sulking because her parents went somewhere for three days. _What a baby! _She scolded herself, but that only worsen her mood.

"Haruna-chan, please watch your language! And I expect a decent answer from you."

She sighed in frustration, she breathed in and out. She quelled her rising anger; if it's an answer she wants then an answer she will get.

"Alice is obviously a crazy girl. All the characters only exist in her head from a talking cat to talking cards. It's because she can't accept her own dull, boring life that she has to dream up all of these characters. Alice is just a stupid little girl, whose probably going to grow up becoming a mass killer at the end of her life. And then she'll kill herself because she hates her life!" Everyone was dumbly staring at her while her teacher had her mouth slightly opened. Somehow she liked the attention she was getting regardless if it was for a negative reason, so she decided to step it up a notch. "And this book is stupid, and the class is stupid, and you're stupid too teacher! Why would we just read a book, expect us to memorize every single detail just to puke it back up on our stupid exam? This whole educational system is stupid!"

There was an eerie silence. Only Haruna can hear her breathing. She didn't dare to look at what sort of face Seijuro was wearing either. Just then someone started to cry.

"I don't want Alice to be a killer. That's too scary!" And then the whole class erupted in hushed laughter and murmurs.

"That's enough! Everyone, please resume your reading. Haruna-chan please come with me to the principal's office."

She dragged her feet following her livid teacher.

Not once had she made eye contact with Seijuro during this whole ordeal.

* * *

She waited with her teacher in front of the principal's office. She could hear the rhythmic clacking of the keyboard. She looked at the clock; she's been waiting for about 5 minutes now.

"Come in." a gruff sounding voice could be heard behind the closed door. Her teacher walked into the principal's office; she looked back and motioned with her hand for Haruna to come in as well.

Haruna sighed; she felt her face hot with anger and frustration.

"So what brings you here Sakata-sensei." The middle-aged old man was wearing a thick black rimmed glass. He was also impossibly bald; the sunlight from the window was reflecting off of his bald head and was slightly blinding Haruna. She shifted away from the reflected light, leaving her to sit at an awkward angle.

"Well, principal. Haruna-chan thought it would be funny to say such crude things in my class. I don't know where she learned to talk so darkly, but I would like to request to speak to her parents!"

"Hmm" the bald principal pondered before looking at Haruna's student profile. "No need Sakata-sensei."

"Wha- I mean, I beg your pardon sir. But may I ask why?"

"Don't worry Sakata – sensei I will handle it from here."

"But sir, this is the eighth time she was sent to your office. Not to mention that she beat that poor boy till he almost had to go to the hospital!"

"It was only a bloody nose, and the boy's parents even said that they were just roughhousing. Anyway, I will take this matter into my own hands."

"Bu-"

The bald principal raised his hand to cut her off. The teacher gave Haruna one final glare before she stormed off.

Once the door was shut, the bald principal gave a loud tired sigh. "Haruna-chan, this has been your eighth visit has it not?"

"Are you going to expel me?"

"Oh heavens no child! Your father is a very _generous_ man when he contributed to build and fund this private school."

"…" Haruna waited for the bald man to finish speaking. She felt like she knew where the general area of the conversation will be directed to. It would be the same as the last seven times she came here.

"Just try to control your emotion and don't let it happen again dear." The principal stood up and patted her shoulder gently. "You're a _good_ student, so I know you _wouldn't_ have done this on purpose."

Was life always this easy? After committing a crime, was it this easy to get away with it?

Is this even normal?

The questions were laid in her mind but with a blank box right where the answer should be. _Maybe this was normal_. She had the nasty voice speaking inside her mind, beckoning her to keep on believing in her ignorant ways.

So she believed it was.

* * *

She came back to her class just in time for lunch. When she opened the classroom door, everyone stared at her. They all reminded her of stupid gawking owls._ Mind your own business!_ She desperately wanted to yell at them.

She saw Seijuro unpacking his bento box, and he was sitting next to her desk. She approached closer to her own seat and slowly sat down. She couldn't face Seijuro because of the shame of bursting out like that. She finally looked up to see him eating his fried tofu. She couldn't help but to laugh as Seijuro was always as calm as ever. Nothing seemed to ever deter this guy.

Seijuro finally looked up and stared on, she couldn't help but to feel slightly proud that she can read Seijuro's face without having him to talk.

"Don't feel like you need to say anything Sei-tan. I know I made a mistake."

"Good."

And so the silent eating time continued between the two of them.

After lunch, she had two more classes before everyone packed up to go home, or in Haruna's case, her house. Some girls gossiped behind Haruna's back as if her reputation wasn't bad enough already. There goes her plan on ever making friends. Ever.

Seijuro cleared his throat and Haruna quickly turned around to see him wearing his blue school backpack.

"Mother told me that you will be coming over today."

"Re-really?" Haruna smiled brightly, "I haven't been to your house since forever!"

She quickly packed up her bag and followed Seijuro in to his limo. He opened the door for her and she slipped in. The limo was very flashy for her taste, she preferred when her uncle picked her up in his 'good ol' pickup truck.' He said that he picked up chicks more than he can count with his fingers. She never knew her uncle owned a chicken delivery service.

As she saw the racing streetlights go by, she suddenly felt guilty for today's outburst. "Sei-tan is a modelled student, and I'm apparently a 'dilinkent'. Or so the teacher would like to call me behind my back."

Seijuro said nothing. What could he have said really?

"That's why, Sei-tan, it's okay if you don't wanna be my acquaintance anymore." She looked back at Seijuro's face, trying to supress her tears from forming in her eyes. "Mother always warned me not to drag you down with my bad manners after all." She wanted to be like Seijuro, calm, collected, and knowing exactly what to do and when to do it.

Seijuro wiped away the tears that were threatening to spill over her eyes, "who's the crybaby now?"

Haruna could feel a vein bulging on her forehead, "Hah? I just gave you my heart-to-heart talk, and that's the best thing you can come up with?"

"This face suits you better. I like the Haruna who won't yield to anyone except for me."

Haruna blinked back the rest of her tears. She had no idea what the world "yield" meant, but she understood her name and the word "like."

"R-really?"

"Yes."

"Then was today's action okay?"

"No, it was not okay."

"Ugh." Haruna faltered a bit, "I see…"

"But, I like what you said. It was interesting none the less."

Haruna looked back at Seijuro, he had a placid face on. She noted how much a year or two can change a person. He no longer looked like a dependent child, but rather a strong and dependable man. She wasn't sure which side of Seijuro she liked more. But she was sure that it was normal for everyone to go through this change to become more like an adult. She just needed to wait for her turn.

"By the way, Sei-tan?"

"Hm?"

"You stopped putting 'chan' after my name."

"Would you prefer if I called you by your family name, Nakamura –san?"

"Urk. No no no no! I hate that, it feels like your talking to my parents! Just Haruna is fine."

"Okay."

The rest of the car ride was silent, but in her opinion, it was the best time she had so far today.

* * *

"Haruna-chan!" Seijuro's mother ran and gave her a great big hug. "And, Seijuro-kun too!" She gave him a great big kiss on his cheek.

Seijuro smiled shyly and said, "I'm home Mother."

"Welcome home you two!"

Haruna loved visiting his home. His mother managed to make their big house so warm and cozy. She always wondered what the difference was considering their house was a similar size.

"Haruna-chan, your uncle packed your bags. He asked me if you could stay with us for three days since he is out of town."

"Re-really?" Haruna face brightened a 1000 watt brighter. She did a complete 180 turn from her bad mood this morning.

"What would you guys like to have for dinner?"

"Anything will be fine mother—"

"Hot pot!" Haruna exclaimed. She always wanted a hot pot; she saw it on the television once. Everyone was cuddled around the circle enjoying a nice big pot of stew filled with unidentifiable vegetables and meat. But most importantly, they all looked really happy, and the food they ate looked really tasty. She once asked if they could have it for dinner, but her parents looked absolutely horrified. They never did tell her the reason why.

"Hot pot? We will not have such peasantry food in this household. Just the usual will be fine Nanami- san." Seijuro and Haruna looked up to see the intimidating man of the household.

"I'm home Father."

Haruna's back shivered; she had never heard such a hollow voice from Seijuro before. It lacked of any great emotion, but she could hear a small tone of resentment?

The man of the household stared at Haruna; she felt uncomfortable under his gaze, but nonetheless she made direct eye contact and bowed. "It's a pleasure to meet you Akashi-san."

"I see you dropped your childish antic of mispronouncing the suffix. Good, at least you are learning to control your habit."

Her lips quirked upwards; she disliked this man greatly. How was Seijuro still able to be so humanely nice even after living under the same roof as this demon?

There was a stagnant awkward atmosphere in the air before Seijuro's mother hushed them to Seijuro's room.

* * *

"Your father is very scary Sei-tan!"

"He's a bit strict is all."

"How did he even meet your mom in the first place?"

Seijuro unpacked his backpack, and set all of his homework on his table. He also took the liberty of unpacking Haruna's backpack and set her homework on the other end of his table as well.

"My mother told me she met him when she was working at the Bakery shop. She said it was love at first sight."

"That's…"

Seijuro turned to see her eyes gleaming brightly. He could almost see the animated hearts floating out of her eyes.

"Sei-tan! Will you be my fir—"

"No."

"But, you didn't let me finish!" Haruna pouted, "You don't even know what I was going to say."

"Stupid, I don't need to hear the rest of it to know what you're going to say." He flicked her forehead gently. She rubbed her forehead from reflex, and stared at Seijuro incredulously.

"What?"

"No-nothing! Just, Sei-tan is…" Haruna didn't know what to say. She couldn't put it into words. This was the first time in three years that Sei-tan actually openly teased her in a physical manner. Could this be their final gap closing moment of their friendship? "I don't know the word… but something close to fun?"

Seijuro stared blankly, "are you saying that I wasn't fun before?"

"Ah, wait, no, I mean, Sei-tan is always awesome, fun, and cool, and great, and fantastic, and …uhhh awesome?"

"I'm just kidding."

"O-oh." Haruna blinked twice before she burst into her laughter. "Sei-tan is weird!"

"Huh? You're much weirder than I."

"I am, aren't I?" She laughed sheepishly.

Haruna decided that even though Seijuro can act like an adult, he can also be fun too! If she had to choose between the two though, in her opinion he would probably enjoy his more relaxed side than his serious side.

* * *

The next day she went to school with Seijuro she was in a much brighter mood. Even all the hollering of mean words from the boys in her class didn't deter her. Not. Even. One. Bit.

She lied.

When one of the boys in her class called Seijuro a freak of nature because of his two different coloured eyes and hanging around with freak of nature 2 (that was Haruna's nickname apparently), she absolutely, positively, indefinitely, indubitably and all the other words that ended in an –ly, lost it. She didn't care about the insults made at her; she greatly cared about what they said about Seijuro though.

"Oy, say that again, you little punk!" She grabbed a hold of his collared shirt and jerked him off of his seats.

"H-hey, don't touch me! You have freak cooties!"

"AH? Then let me kill it for you!" She balled her fist and was ready to punch him on the nose. But as she drew her fist back, her elbow impacted something soft. She immediately heard a girl screaming.

"Akashi-kun is bleeding!"

_Eh?_ She saw the rest of her classmates adorning wide eyes and mouth agape.

"Someone get the teacher!"

_Aka…Sei-tan?_ Her fist loosened around the boy's collared shirt.

"How could you hurt him Haruna- chan! I thought you were his friend!"

"Yah you are so mean!"

"Akashi is better off without you!"

Haruna dropped the boy roughly in his seat. She turned around and saw crimson liquid dripping down on his white dress shirt. It was Seijuro's blood. Her stomach began to tie in a knot as the blood intermingled with the white fabric blossoming larger on his shirt. She was immediately frozen in shock. _She did this_. Seijuro warned her multiple times that violence didn't solve anything. "Sei-t—"

"What happened here? Who did this?" The familiar shriek she grew to detest was here. All eyes were pointed at her. "I should've known..—"

"Sensei, it's alright." Seijuro finally spoke amongst the chaos, as well as effectively cutting off the teacher from saying anything possibly unnecessary. He sounded a bit nasally since he was plugging his nose. "It's only a nose bleed, besides Haruna didn't mean to hit me."

Haruna was still speechless. The one person she swore to protect, how ironic that she was the one to hurt him.

She couldn't hear anything anymore; rather, she wanted to block all of her sensations out. What was wrong with her? Seriously, what _was_ wrong with her? Maybe, she was the abnormal one. Everything else in her life was normal except for her.

She was held by her arm; she could feel the teacher's fingernails digging into her arm. She let herself be dragged across the hallway right back into the familiar office.

The bald principal's office.

* * *

"Hmm, this is a problem Haruna-chan." The bald principal was pacing around his office. "If it was any other student, we could easily remedy this. But this is the Akashi family we're talking about."

Haruna didn't understand what the principal was trying to say to her. What difference did it make really? She hurt a _student_, should they not worry about the student rather than their family background?

"Well, we can start this off by apologizing to his family. But, Haruna-chan, please refrain from hitting any of the better off kids."

"Be-better off?"

"Yes, kids who come from a prestigious background. You see, your dad has taken into great _precaution_ by generously donating some _resources_ so that we don't disrupt his work by calling in for _your_ misconduct."

Haruna felt her head spinning with all of these foreign sounding words. What was he trying to say? She didn't get it. She let the principle talked on about the prestigious family, and he finally ended his speech with what he similarly said last time.

"Now, please be _a good girl_. If you don't cause any more trouble we might be able to overlook some of your lower grades so you can attend a prestigious middle school."

* * *

She was then sent out from the office just like that. Her feet mechanically walked towards the nurse's office. There was Seijuro's mother and Seijuro, his mother was just hugging him telling him how brave he was. Seijuro just nodded but Haruna can see his eyes watery and red.

"Oh, Haruna-chan! Are you alright?" Seijuro's mom quickly came to her side and checked for her non-existent injuries.

"Nanami-tan…I'm sorry."

"It's alright Haruna – chan, Seijuro – kun already told me what happened. Just try to be aware of your surrounding before you punch that little boy again."

"Huh—eh?" Haruna stared at Seijuro's mother who was smiling mischievously.

"Anyone who makes fun of my Seijuro – kun will get a piece of this! Hah!" And Seijuro's mother gave a straight punch right into the air.

"Mother, please. You know that violence isn't the answer." Seijuro sighed, and he looked at Haruna. "How was the principal's office? What did he say?"

"I think I'm off the hook. He…he said some of the things I couldn't really understand though. But he told me that he understands that it was an accident, so …"

"That's a relief that you didn't get any permanent mark on your school record Haruna – chan!" Seijuro's mother exclaimed as she patted her head; Haruna couldn't help but to have a small smile creeping up on her face.

"I guess so…" When she looked back at Seijuro, his face had an unreadable expression.

"Well, do you want to leave school early today with Seijuro – kun? I can ask your teacher for permission, since I'm technically your guardian for the next two days." She gave Haruna the gentlest smile she has ever seen. She swore that Seijuro's mother must definitely be an angel, meaning Seijuro was half an angel.

"I think that'll be for the best Mother. She caused quite a stir in our classroom." Seijuro spoke up as he jumped off the nursery bed.

"Alright, then why don't you two pack up your things and then we'll leave. I'll talk to your teacher now okay?"

"Thank you, and I'll see you in a bit mother." Seijuro replied and he left with Haruna following close behind.

"Sei – tan?"

"Mhm?"

"Does it still hurt?"

"A bit, but the pain is going away now." He walked down the hallway looking straight forward. His face didn't show any sign of holding a grudge, but she still had this nasty feeling in the pit of her stomach. She reached out to grab a hold of his hand; she was scared that he would leave her if she didn't.

"So-sorry Sei-tan." Her eyes were casted downwards unable to face Seijuro. She was such a coward; she should apologize properly by looking at his face but her neck felt stiff.

She then felt a reassuring squeeze from his hand, "As long as you understand what you did was wrong," Haruna nodded furiously to show that she did understand that she crossed over the line, "then I will forgive you."

She finally looked up to see his face properly. Albeit the red nose, his small smile that graced his lips left her speechless. She realized how much she liked Seijuro. She couldn't differentiate the magnitude of her adoration towards him, but she knew that he was an irreplaceable friend that she would forever treasure.

That day, she swore to herself that she will never use violence to solve an issue … At least not while Seijuro was around her.

* * *

When Haruna finally arrived to the Akashi's household, she was greeted by a stern face. Seijuro's father was waiting for them to return, and he looked extremely displeased. His already grim line going grimmer, which she never thought was possible.

"Ah, Akashi – san, pleasant to see you greeting us, what's the special occasion?" Seijuro's mother was trying her best to relieve some of the heavy tension in the air.

"I just received the message from the school; I would like to speak to the girl." He stared straight at Haruna, and she felt her back stiffened. "Alone." he managed to add a second later which greatly increased the suspense in Haruna's opinion.

"Father, Haruna didn't –" Seijuro's word was quickly silenced by just one look from his father. One look! How did he condition his child to be so obedient, she couldn't help but wonder?

Haruna took off her shoes and wore the slippers their house maid provided. She gave one last look to Seijuro and his mother. _Why did they look so sad?_ She pondered silently; she hated to see them sad, so she did the best thing she could do at the moment. She smiled.

* * *

She followed the older Akashi all the way into his room. It was a very modest room; it only contained the bare necessities. He sat her down in front of him and there laid a board with a grid drawn on it, and next to it had a container filled with wooden pentagonal shaped pieces. She looked questionably at the older man.

"This game is called shogi." (1)

"Sho…gi?"

"Yes that's right."

Haruna was now irrefutably confused. Why did he call her here? "Uhm, Akashi – san?"

"Hm?"

"Wh-why am I here?"

"Because I said so, is that not why you followed me in here?"

Haruna was about to refute before her mouth automatically shut close. He was right; she followed him just because he commanded her to. Neither reason nor rhyme could explain this to her. She wanted to ask her uncle about this phenomenon. She wondered what her uncle would say.

Maybe along the lines of: "It's normal to follow an adult."

Though at the end of the day, it was just her own voice and her own thought dubbing her uncle.

"Because it's normal…to follow the strong." Haruna did not say the exact words she initially thought, but she felt her words flowing fluidly, one after another.

After that statement, the older Akashi did what she thought was the near impossible.

He started to laugh.


	3. Loneliness

**A/N:** Again, another update! Aughhhh so much homework. Must work on homework. Priorities. Dying. Left. Right. And Center. Also, this chapter is a bit dark. Sorry!

**Reviewer(s): ****The Holy Pineapple:** I agree! Haruna does seem to walk the path of a delinquent! I can't wait to write about her and Seijuro when they enter Teikou! **LeoInuyuka:** I always blamed Akashi's dad on how Seijuro turned out. Before his influence, he was known to be a very maternal – type like of a character haha.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own KnB. I wish I did.

_Terms: _

_(1) Ote = Equivalent to "check" when playing shogi_

_(2) Tsumi = Equivalent to "checkmate" when playing shogi_

* * *

**Metamorphoses**

_A great fire burns within me, but no one stops to warm themselves at it, and passers-by only see a wisp of smoke_

_Vincent van Gogh_

* * *

CHAPTER 3: LONELINESS

* * *

_Tak._

_Tak._

_Tak._

The sound of the wooden shogi pieces being placed on the board was reverberating inside of the older Akashi's room.

"Ote." _(1) _The older Akashi's voice was soft but firm.

Apparently her king was in danger, yet she couldn't help but to mindless stare at the unfamiliar characters written on the wooden shogi pieces. She didn't know why they started to play shogi. She was sure that she was going to be scolded by him after injuring his son. But instead, right after the older Akashi laughed out loud from her statement of why she followed him, he brought up the Shogi board and started to teach her how to play. Her feet was squirming uncomfortably as she could feel her legs starting to cramp up from kneeling longer than she was used to.

She didn't know where to move, it seemed one by one her shogi pieces were being eaten off by the older Akashi's pieces.

"Hmm…" She pondered out loudly; she didn't know which of her shogi pieces she should move next.

"Let me ask you a question, Haruna."

Haruna was startled out of her trance. She looked up to see the older man holding up the Shogi piece with the character "king" written on it. She waited patiently for him to continue.

"Between the two of you, who is best suited for the title king?"

"Between …the two of us?" She parroted his question.

"Between you and Seijuro." The older Akashi clarified; his smirk never left his face.

The older Akashi handed her the "king" shogi piece and she held the piece in between her index finger and her thumb. She looked at the simple carvings of the character filled in with black ink. Confused as to how to answer the question, she decided to answer it in terms of the Shogi piece's movement.

"I think Akashi is the king."

The older Akashi gave her a scoff, "You will both inherit your parent's business, and inevitably you will be rivals. Nakamura should do a better job in teaching his next heir to be more competitive."

The comment completely flew over Haruna's head; instead she continued her train of thought. "Akashi is the king because he's weak, and I'm stronger than him. That's why I think I'm more like the knight." She looked up to see the man looking momentarily confused, but he recovered quickly soon after. "Even though Akashi is weak like this King who can only move one space at a time; I think he's great at encouraging others who has the strength to protect him." Haruna picked up the knight piece on her board. "Akashi is the king, and I am his knight. I'll protect him." Satisfied with her answer, she couldn't help but to smile brightly at the older Akashi.

The older Akashi took both the knight piece and the king piece and placed it where they originally belonged. He chuckled darkly which brought a cold shudder down her arms. "You speak of protecting Seijuro but looking at today's incident," Haruna winced a bit from the memory of Seijuro's bloody nose, "makes me wonder if you really can." She could hear the tinge of mockery and doubt in his voice.

Haruna felt her jaws tighten; she moved her knight piece to capture his bishop effectively getting her king out of check. "I can!" she exclaimed and softly added "ote" at the end.

"Can you really?" Then the older man moved his rook and killed her knight. She saw him slowly take away her knight piece and dropped it carelessly into the pile of her dead soldiers. "Acting irrationally will get you nowhere. You won't be able to protect your knight nor your king." Haruna's gaze fell down to her own king. "Tsumi." _(2)_ Her king was trapped, and none of her other soldiers can do anything about it.

* * *

She left the older Akashi's room shutting his door quietly. She felt the chilling premonition that if she continued to act the way she does now, next time it won't be just a nose bleed.

She decided that from now on she will protect Seijuro when he's in physical danger. And maybe beat up the kids who make fun of Seijuro when he's not looking.

She walked sluggishly into Seijuro's room, and she was suddenly greeted by his questioning stares. _You could've just asked me what happened; _she thought that Seijuro was too reserved for his own good.

"Don't worry Sei-tan, nothing much happened. You're dad just taught me how to play shogi while discussing about my dad's business. Although, he was saying way too many difficult words for me to understand exactly what he was trying say." She was telling him half the truth; she did not want Seijuro to find out that she compared him to one of the shogi pieces. It was a bit embarrassing after all.

"Y-you know how to play shogi then?"

Haruna took a step back; she had never seen Seijuro's eyes widen with glee. He quickly ran to his closet and brought out a shogi table with a box of shogi pieces. He was smiling widely as he sat the table in front of her.

"You must really like shogi…" Haruna commented blandly.

"Yup, it's the first game my dad really taught me. It's fun." He started to set up all the pieces in their correct homes. "Do you not like shogi?"

She didn't particularly hate it, but she didn't like it either. She still hasn't fully grasped the mechanics of this complicated game. However, seeing Seijuro's smiling eyes, she realized that she yearned for any connection that she could have with him. "I just learned about it today, but I like it." She felt her mouth dry, guilty for having to tell a small white lie.

That night they played shogi until their bed time. She lost every game, but she admitted that playing with Seijuro made it infinitely more enjoyable.

* * *

Haruna hated rainy days.

The smell of dampened earth, the looming gray sky, and the rain pelting down mercilessly was soaking her backpack. No matter how she tried to cover her whole body under her yellow umbrella the raindrops still managed to bypass her shield.

Brewing a heavy sigh, she couldn't focus on what her teacher was saying. Every now and then, her teacher would glance at her direction giving her the stink – eye. Well, at least her teacher no longer asked her to participate in class.

The treatment she received from her teacher gave her mixed feelings. She was never the studious type, nor was she that interested in school in general. Another student had to read a passage from the same darn book as yesterday, Alice in Wonderland.

The voice of her fellow classmate drowned from the sound of the _pitter patter _of the raindrops hitting against the window pane. She felt no different from when she was outside. Peering through the window, she would see her classmates and her teacher interacting with each other. She wanted to be a modeled student; she wanted to have friends; she wanted to be loved by her teacher and peers. She wanted it so much that she drove herself to the path of self-destruction.

Unable to handle her frustrated feeling, she became more violent. This isolation that she had been feeling, that she had _always_ been feeling, was due to her stubbornness. And there was nothing she could do, or so she told herself to relieve herself from the burden of realizing that she needed to make an effort to change.

The rainclouds quietly rumbled in distaste as if disagreeing with Haruna's thoughts. She looked out at the murky gray sky.

No one wanted to be out when it was raining.

No one wanted to play under the dark gloomy skies.

No one wanted to wait for the sun that was shying away behind the dark veil.

She hated rainy days.

* * *

"Seijuro – kun, Haruna – chan!" As soon as Seijuro and Haruna entered the Akashi's household, they were immediately greeted by a whirlwind of kisses and hugs.

Haruna giggled as Seijuro's mother showered her with questions of how their day went.

"Mama was so lonely when you guys weren't here!" The red haired woman dramatically sniffled.

Seijuro just sighed at his mother's childishness, but he couldn't maintain the façade for long. A wide grin managed to sneak up on him as he watched his mother dot on both Haruna and him.

They both took off their yellow rain boots and were guided into the living room. The fire was cackling warmly and there laid two cup of steaming hot drinks.

"Wow! Hot Coco!" Haruna exclaimed; she skipped towards her drink and peered down and instantly she could smell the sweet chocolate tingle her nose.

Seijuro timidly held the cup of warm coco in his hands and took a small sip. He sighed contently as he sat near the fire warming his feet.

Haruna sat next to Seijuro and imitated him by stretching out her legs towards the fireplace as well. The warmth from the fire place relaxed thier cold and tense body.

"Oh right! Haruna – chan?"

"Yes?" She snapped out of her daze and lazily looked up to see the woman adorning her trademark sweet smile.

"Could you ask your parents if I could take you to the spring festival this weekend?"

"A- a festival? Definitely! Mama and Papa would definitely say yes!"

Seijuro's mother laughed softly, "but you still need to ask them, Haruna – chan."

"Will do Nanami-tan!" She had a wide grin plastered across her face, her earlier sad moods easily blown away from her mind.

"And…" Seijuro's mother started, she held Haruna's small hand and pulled Haruna closer to her bosom. "I just know you would look adorable in the Kimono, Haruna – chan!"

The next few minutes, Seijuro's mother gushes at the possible hair style and kimono design Haruna could wear. Haruna listened attentively as she matched the expression of the older woman's delight.

Seijuro just smiled at how both his mother and Haruna were comically exchanging ideas for the upcoming festival. He realized that their family always lacked this type of vibe and energy when they were accompanied by his father. Even though he will never admit this to Haruna, he was secretly thankful for bringing the warm smile on his mother's face.

Later this evening, Haruna and Seijuro was working away at their homework. Actually, it was Seijuro doing his homework and Haruna was doing nothing.

One of her hand was cradling her face as she stared blankly at her paper.

"Haruna, you should finish your homework before dinner. That way we'll have more time to play shogi." Seijuro couldn't help but to pout a bit, yesterday, he felt his game was cut short when his mother barged in to tell them to go to bed.

Even though Haruna was still a beginner, she was learning at a fast pace. But she was still easy to beat because she seemed to have an unusual attachment of protecting her knight, thus allowing her to sacrifice other pieces unnecessarily.

When he approached her about her strange play style, she just simply grumbled that she refused to lose her king and her knight.

"Fine, Fine, _Mother_." Haruna gave him a cheeky grin as soon as she saw his brow furrowed.

"Don't call me that." He said flatly, and she only responded with a chime of giggles.

Haruna looked down at her assignment; she really didn't want to work on it. Sneaking a glance at Seijuro's worksheet, she could feel her jaws unhinged as he was already half done.

"Let me copy, Sei-tan!" Her hand slowly reached towards his assignment, but she was only greeted with a light slap on her hand.

"You will never learn if you keep on copying me Haruna." Scowling at his good-natured personality, she gave a puff of resignation before she looked down at her blank worksheet.

"This is going to be a long hour."

So away she worked, although she just wrote her answers as short and simplistic as possible and managed to finish before Seijuro. But they both finished just before dinner time.

* * *

"Ta-dah!"

Seijuro and Haruna were greeted by a lone pot and a portable gas stove.

"What's this Mother?" Seijuro sat down next to Haruna. She was looking at the portable gas stove with interest. He could see her eyes sparkling with curiosity.

"Well, remember how Haruna-chan wanted to have a hot pot?"

"Th-th-this is a hot pot!" The small girl exclaimed, she leaned into the pot to see the contents of what was in the hot pot. Various unknown meats and vegetables were leisurely floating about.

Seijuro's mother chuckled sheepishly, "Since your father is out for his business meeting, I thought it would be a good time to let you guys try one of Mama's favourite dishes!"

"Sei-tan! I saw this on television!" Her hands were on his shoulder and she was shaking him to gather his attention.

"I k-k-know." His voice faltered due to Haruna shaking his body quite vivaciously much to his displeasure.

"Nanami-tan…" For unknown reason, Haruna could feel her chest dully aching. It wasn't a painful ache; it was warm and pleasant. "Thank you!" Why is it that she felt happy for such a small gesture?

The red-haired woman patted Haruna's head, "You're welcome Haruna-chan!"

The bowl was placed in front of her. Haruna gingerly took her chopsticks and picked up a piece of meat. She couldn't contain her smile. She knew the reason for her happiness. Getting spoiled by the person you loved is much more different, it felt more special. She looked at Seijuro cooling down his vegetable by lightly blowing on it. She took a bite of her meat; she realized that eating food with the people you love made the food much more deli— she couldn't finish her thought as her half-chewed meat rolled out of her mouth.

_S-S-salty!_ Haruna's face paled, was she the only one who thought the food was a bit too salty? She looked at Seijuro and he politely placed his chopsticks on top of his bowl.

"Thank you for the meal Mother. But I'm full." His face was trying to stay impassive, but the small twitch of his mouth was noticed by Haruna.

"Eh? You guys aren't hungry? Was it not good?" The mother took a piece of vegetable from Seijuro's bowl. She plopped the green vegetable in her mouth and immediately coughed. "Wah! How did it turn out to be so salty?"

The mother quickly ran towards the kitchen and came back out with a bottle of water, a can of salt, and a box of something Haruna never seen before. Seijuro's mother laid the content in front of them. "Geez, you guys should've told me!"

The mysterious box had a picture of a cartoon drawn chicken; it was winking at her. "Ch-chicken …stock?" The box was lifted from Haruna's line of eye sight as the mother started to pour the content generously into the pot. Then she took the bottle of water and poured it inside next. Haruna giggled because the sound of the water pouring made a weird rhythmic _plop_ sound. She looked at Seijuro who was only staring at the content in the pot sceptically.

"Now," the mother turned the dial on the portable stove, "we just need to wait for it to boil!

Moments later, another bowl of steaming hot soup was placed before both Seijuro and Haruna. Haruna peered into her bowl and saw her vegetables and meats drowning. She hesitantly picked up her spoon; the soup no longer looked as edible as before.

Taking a deep breath, she shut her eyes and took a mouthful of her soup. The content of her soup was now trapped in to the confined of her mouth. She swallowed a bit and immediately wanted to spit it back out. The soup tasted really bland.

Seijuro was looking at Haruna, and seeing her contorted face he gave her a thumb's up with a dead panned eyes. _This doesn't help Sei-tan! _Haruna wanted to yell, but with the soup still trapped in her mouth her only choice was to shut her eyes and swallowed back the lukewarm liquid. Her fingers were twitching, and her back was stiff as she could feel the liquid slithering down her throat and settling into the pit of her stomach. She was starting to lose her appetite.

"Ah, it's so bland!" The mother exclaimed after Haruna begrudgingly swallowed a mouthful of her soup. "Don't worry, nothing like a pinch of salt can't solve!"

The mother took a can of salt and began to shake the contents out. However, nothing was coming out, so she decided to shake it a bit harder. "Mother—" Seijuro was about to interject as if he could feel a sense of foreboding. Right on cue, the lid of the salt shaker fell into the pot along with the rest of the content from the can.

"Ah…" Both the red-haired duo stared at the pot menacingly. Haruna couldn't contain her giggles any longer. She could see where Seijuro got his expression from.

At first the bubble of laughter started small, but the more she tried to supress her jubilation the harder it was to contain. Haruna's laughter carried towards the mother, and she couldn't help but to softly giggle as well. Seijuro was looking at both of them and much to his dismay he caught their infectious laughter.

But the trio's laughter stopped momentarily when Haruna's stomach started to grumble for her attention. Haruna touched her stomach and a hue of pink flushed across her face. "I'm still hungry…"

"Well, I guess the hot pot was a failure. Sorry Haruna." The mother winced playfully, and began to clear up the table. "We should eat out today!"

"It's not good to waste food Mother." Seijuro replied blandly.

"Ah, that's right Seijuro-kun! Wasting food is really _really_ bad!" She ruffled Seijuro's hair, "That's why let's apologize to the God of Meat and the Goddess of Vegetable!"

"God…?" Blank stares greeted Seijuro's mother.

"Yup! If you waste food and don't apologize, then bad luck will follow!"

Her grave expression didn't fool Seijuro, he knew that his mother was pulling his leg. His mother always seemed to take the approach of telling superfluous tales when discussing the topic related to teaching him good habits. Just last Wednesday when he was playing shogi before doing his homework, his mother burst into his room and wept, saying how the homework fairy would be very sad to see Seijuro playing before doing his homework. Wanting to avoid such theatrical scenes with his mother, he normally goes along with her whims. However, he wondered if Haruna caught on, a quick glance at her dark face told him otherwise.

"I…I will never waste food ever again!" The young girl muttered seriously; Seijuro shook his head in disbelief. But, at least if his mother's tales will enforce good habits in Haruna then the girl's gullibility isn't necessarily a bad thing.

* * *

Both Haruna and Seijuro were putting on their yellow rain boots. The rain may have stopped, but it was still wet and muddy outside.

"Hmm, where do you guys want to go?" Seijuro's mother asked, as she gathered her car key and packed a small folded umbrella just in case the weather started up again.

"Uhm…" Haruna rarely ate outside, so she looked at Seijuro to see if he had any suggestions.

Their conversation was interrupted by a soft knock on the door.

"I wonder who it could be at this time of the night…?" the mother mostly spoke to herself as she opened the door.

"Good evening!" A gruff looking man appeared before them. He had droopy eyes, and his posture was quite slouched. His dress shirt had two buttons undone from the top, and his tie was loosely hanging around his neck. His black hair was also considerably disheveled, but it matched with his facial hair which was cut recently as only short stubbles were visible.

"Ahh!" The older woman gave a slight yelp and slammed the door on his face, quickly locking the doors soon after.

"Nanami-tan?"

"Haruna-chan, I want you to quickly call 1-1-9 and tell them that a suspicious male ha—"

"But that's my uncle." Haruna looked at Seijuro's mother as her face drained of any colors.

"Your uncle…?"

Haruna nodded, and the woman quickly unlocked the door. The gruff looking man was still there, and she instantly bowed and apologized furiously.

The two kids only looked at each other in confusion, and just shrugged their shoulder thinking that maybe it was an 'adult-thing.'

* * *

"Sorry for scaring you like that, Akashi-san." His gruff voice gave out a short husky chortle, "I was planning on calling you ahead of time, but I got a bit…" he licked his bottom lip and gave the woman a sly smile, "side tracked with my date you could say."

Seijuro's mother grabbed a hold of both Haruna and Seijuro's hand. She felt unsettled with this man, it was almost hard to believe that such a cute girl would have such a creepy uncle.

"Uncle, why are you here?" The small girl finally piped up.

"Ah, your mother called me to tell you that their business trip has been extended for another two weeks."

"T-two weeks! Why?"

"I don't know Haruna-chan, but I thought since I was on my way to your house, I might as well pick you up." He reached for Haruna's hand, but Seijuro's mother intercepted.

"Well, she was supposed to stay for 3 nights and 4 days, so I don't see why we can't let her stay overnight today. We can drive Haruna-chan home tomorrow."

"Ah, it's alright Akashi-san. We already troubled you as is." He gave her a blunt answer, and then he turned back towards the small girl trying to contain her tears, "come on Haruna, don't be spoiled now."

Haruna knew that her uncle hated spoiled kids, he even told her straight off the bat that if she was spoiled then her Uncle would have no qualms in leaving her in the care of a babysitter. She didn't particularly hate the baby sitter, but she much preferred having a family member with her than a complete stranger.

Hesitantly, she let go of the woman's hand. "I guess I should go home, Nanami-tan." Her small hand reached for her uncle's, and she looked back at Seijuro, "sorry we couldn't play more shogi tonight Sei-tan." Giving the red-haired boy a guilty smile, she was about to turn to leave.

"Then, I'll see you tomorrow Haruna."

They were simple words, but knowing that tomorrow will be another day when she could see Seijuro, it lightened her heavy heart. She nodded in agreement, and waved happily at them.

When Haruna and her uncle boarded his 'pick up' truck, Seijuro's mother wore a stern face. She didn't like that uncle one bit.

* * *

Boarding on her Uncle's truck, the first thing that greeted her was a pink pantie with decorative frills along the hemline. "Uncle, is that yours?" Her expression grew dark; she didn't want to imagine her uncle wearing them.

Noticing the pink underwear, her uncle just laughed shamelessly, "Kaori-chan must've left them in my truck," he muttered the last few words under his breath, "that sly woman." He grabbed the pantie and threw it somewhere at the back of his truck.

Warily, she sat in the front seat.

The truck revved a few times before they backed out from Seijuro's drive way. Haruna saw Seijuro and his mother waving at them, she didn't want to leave.

"Uncle?" The uncle didn't reply, so she continued to talk anyways. "How long will you stay this time?"

"Hmm, probably until your parents come back. Watari would be the one driving to and from your school though." Watari was their chauffeur; he usually worked during Haruna's school days.

The rest of the car ride was silent.

* * *

When Haruna arrived to their house, she was not greeted by loving kisses or hugs. The house was dark and quiet. The rest of their servants were done for today and left home. Her uncle didn't bother turning on the light and went upstairs.

Before leaving completely out of Haruna's sight, he said, "Make sure to go to bed right after you brushed your teeth."

Haruna didn't get the chance to reply because her uncle swiftly went into his room.

The soft shut of his door echoed in her house. She took of her shoes one by one, and she didn't properly put them away. She knew her parents would scold her if she didn't, but she couldn't care the least bit what her parents would feel right now.

The house wasn't completely dark, but it was still hard to navigate her way towards the kitchen. She bumped into four random chairs and tables before she finally arrived to her destination.

The kitchen felt a bit overwhelming for Haruna, she hated how unfamiliar she was with her own kitchen. She never really had any reasons to go in here because the chef would always bring out the food. Rubbing her stomach, she realized she was very hungry. She opened up her fridge and was instantly met with all sorts of vegetables, fruits, condiments, drinks and other assortments she couldn't recognize.

The cool air from the fridge settled by her feet; she shivered a bit. She quickly scanned over what she could eat one more time. She decided to have an apple.

She sat on the floor in front of the fridge. It started to make a weird _whirring_ noise, and she quickly skedaddle away from the cooling box thinking it may explode. After a few seconds of the weird electronic noise, the kitchen was stilled with silence once more. Breathing a sigh of relief, she took a small bite of her apple.

It was sweet and juicy.

_Crunch._

She wondered what Seijuro and his mother was eating right now.

_Crunch._

The hot pot was a total utter disaster, but it was still fun.

_Crunch_.

_Crunch._

_Crunch._

A lone tear escaped from Haruna's eyes before she quickly wiped away her tear with her sleeve. _Stupid, _she thought.

* * *

Haruna brushed her teeth, put on her night gown, and brushed her hair. She was all settled in her bed that was clearly suitable for a giant in her opinion.

Spreading her arms and her legs as wide as she could, she forcefully shut her eyes closed. A minute has passed, then two, but she couldn't fall asleep. "Sei-tan…" her complaint was stopped short remembering that she was no longer with him.

The bed was so big that she can spread her body and sleep at any angle, and there would still be enough space leftover. She missed sleeping next to Seijuro, even though she would chatter on about the most useless thing, Seijuro would still listen until she fell asleep.

Frustrated, she jumped out of her bed to see what her uncle was up to.

Tiptoeing across the hall way, she could see her uncle's light still on filtering through the cracks of his door. She felt a bit intimidated to knock, but mustering all of her courage she gave out three knocks. Her uncle didn't respond.

She slowly opened the door and peeked through, "Uncle?"

"It's rude to open someone's door without waiting for them to respond, Haruna-chan."

"Sorry uncle."

He was sitting at his desk with a glass of dark caramel coloured drink next to him. Haruna gingerly entered his room and shut the door quietly behind her.

"Well, what can I help you with Haruna?"

"Uncle…" Haruna didn't know how to exactly say this without sounding immature, "could I… sleep with you tonight?" She realized no matter what words she chose she would still sound like a child.

"No can do kiddo."

Disappointment clearly evident on her face, she managed to choke out an "oh."

"I only let ladies over the age of 25, but not over 40 if they wanna get into my bed."

_What does age got to do with anything?_ Haruna thought her uncle was just making up an excuse. A large hand rested on top of Haruna's head.

"Haruna-chan, you don't want to sleep with uncle because uncle doesn't deserve to sleep in the same bed as you."

Her bright curious eyes were strewn with confusion. "What do you mean uncle?"

Instead of answering, he just gave a great big pat on her head and kicked her out of his room. Staring blankly at the closed door in front of her, realization dawned to her that her uncle just completely pushed her away without a single reasonable reason! Growling under her breath, she yelled, "Fine! I don't want to sleep with a stinky uncle like you!" But to her disappointment, she was only met with a muffled chuckle.

Stomping towards her bedroom, her train of insulting words such as "stupid," "ugly," and "oldie," was interrupted by the ringing of her telephone.

She quickly jolted at the loud sound as she was already accustomed to the quietness in her house. "Uncle!" she yelled, but the phone kept ringing on. "Uncle! The phone!" she tried again, but the phone still diligently rang.

Giving out an exasperated sigh, she quickly ran downstairs and was about to yell at the person who was calling at this ungodly hour – it was 9:00pm. But as soon as her mouth reached the receiver, she could only muster a meek "hello?"

"_Haruna?"_

Her body went rigid, could it be? "S-Sei-tan?"

"_Yes, that's me."_

"W-why did you call? I mean not that I don't mind, just you never called and just…" she stopped midway realizing she was rambling on.

Haruna heard a soft chuckle from the other end. Gripping the phone tighter, she was thankful that Seijuro couldn't see her face right now. Even she didn't want to see what her face looked like; after all she could feel her cheeks burning.

"_Mother just wanted to check if you got home safely with your uncle."_

"O-oh! Yes, I'm all safe and sound!"

"_That's good."_

"Y-yup!" Haruna wanted to punch herself; she sounded like many of Akashi's admirers. There was a pause in between them. She was desperately racking her brain to think of something to say, anything to say really, but her mind drew a blank.

"_Well, it's getting late, so we should both sleep."_

"R-right."

"_Then…have a good night, Haruna."_

"Have a good night, Sei-tan."

Haruna pressed the phone closer to her ear even after she heard the distinct click. She waited until the line went fully dead before she, too, hung up the phone. Clutching her chest, she couldn't stop the rapid pace of her heart beat.

Even though she was happy, she felt dread at the same time. _I told Sei-tan that I was happy being just acquaintance, but at this point, I want to be more than an acquaintance…in fact I want to be more than friends._ Haruna looked at the phone with turmoil stirring deeply in her mind; she realized she wanted to be _best friends_ with Akashi Seijuro.


End file.
